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Friday, January 30, 2015

German music connoisseur Klaus Layer is back with another plate of fresh instrumentals on Redefinition Records. Taking stamp in East Coast boom bap Klaus adds several layers of sounds to each track, combining live instrumentation and dusty samples in creating a unique musical experience that forms a cohessive whole. I'd go as far as saying that this is probably the producer's finest work yet, an album that comes highly recommended. Cop the LP @ RedefinitionRecords.com or grab the digital from Bandcamp.

Second single from Lewis Parker & Eastkoast's limited collaboration "MK:Ultra (Operation Hypnosis)" is called "Bank Robbery" and is a certified banger. The LP is limited to 300 copies while the instrumental edition only comes in 250 pressings so be sure to get your pre-orders on if you want this in your collection. Don't sleep on single #1 either, "Superior MC's".

Thursday, January 29, 2015

You know I'm a sucker for classic KRS-One and BDP so this demo called "Late Night" that Kenny Parker just unleashed is three minutes of pure boom bap gold. Produced by Parker this is an early take for a song they were developing for "Return Of The Boom Bap", one of the definite albums of the '90s. If you're looking for more classic Boogie Down shit, be sure to check out this full 50 minutes BDP performance from London, 1990.

DJ EFN is dropping his full-length album "Another Time"on March 3, filled with sick US emcees like Inspectah Deck, MC Eiht, King Tee, Smif-N-Wessun, Killer Mike, Talib Kweli, McGruff, Ras Kass, Joell Ortiz, and many many more. Should definitely be one to look out for! The new single "Revolutionary Rebel Music" gives a good taste of what to expect, with EFN rounding up OC, Your Old Droog, Reks and Royce Da 5'9" to let loose over a hard hitting Buckwild banger. ILL!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

I saw Ghostface Killah perform live in Sweden back in 2008 and to this day it is one of the sickest, most energetic concerts I've attended. Backed up by his Theodore Unit mates he ripped through an unusally large chunk of his huge catalouge of classics, killing both Wu cuts as solo songs. A couple of years before I witnessed Starks mighty stage presence he released a concert from an undisclosed location in NYC on both CD, 2xLP and DVD through his own Stark Enterprises label. Recorded on October 9, 2005, the one hour set is a great watch and/or listen for any Ghostface fan - and if you're not into Ghost you're pretty damn suspect in my book. Ocassionally joined by GZA, Cappadonna, Killah Priest and his son Sun God, Ironman here works his way through classics such as "Holla", "Run", "Be This Way", "Mighty Healthy", "Criminology", "Nutmeg", "Apollo Kids", etc, etc. Many thanks goes out to BacoTV for making this available on YouTube for free streaming!

Check out the visuals to what's probably my favorite track off SlimKid3 and DJ Nu-Mark's short but sweet self-titled LP which dropped last year. "King" features guest verses from Diamond D and K-Natural, while the video is directed by Daniel Cordero. Order the album on vinyl, CD or Mp3 from Delicious Vinyl now.

Friday, January 23, 2015

All of the great producers obviously have tons of incredible sessions that for one reason or never failed to make it into the public sphere. Many of these producers choose to hold on to them with white knuckles so to speak, which is unfortunate. In more recent years we have got to see some previously unknown music from legends like the D.I.T.C. brothers, Omniscence, Natural Elements, Mobb Deep and Masta Ace to name a handful. Domingo has often tried to make sure to put out previously unreleased gems to the people and we know that he's partaken in tons of sessions with some of the rap industries absolute top echelon. Good news then that on February 17 yet another compilation of this type of material is being unveiled in the form of "Sessions N Lessons". So far three singles have been released through Domingo's Soundcloud page. Up top you'll hear the previously unreleased KRS-One track "Look Into The Sky", recorded in 2001 for either "The Sneak Attack" (an album Domingo had a lot more to do with than the printed credits lets on) or "Spiritual Minded". Below you find embedded links to Omar Epps (then known as WolfPack's) 1995 jam "The Eyes Of God" and the knocking Sean Price / Ruste Juxx banger "All Time Great". The limited CD is now up for pre-order via IndieGoGo.com where it's revealed that other artists starring on the album includes Rakim, Channel Live, Kool G Rap and many more.

Ghostface Killah is not only one of the top emcees of all time but he's also undoubtedly one of the hardest working men in hip-hop. Since last month he has released his excellent solo album "36 Seasons", appeared on roughly half the tracks of Wu-Tang Clan's reunion LP, and prepared the second collaboration with Sheek Louch and a host of guest emcees from both camps under the Wu Block banner (that "Hidden Gems" album should've dropped this Tuesday but seems to have been pushed back - what's the deal?). As if that wasn't enough Tony Starks is already getting ready to drop yet another full-length project. Following his storytelling over live instrumentation projects with Adrian Younge and The Revelations, respectively, Starks now taps Canadian jazz trio BadBadNotGood to provide the backdrops. I'm not too familiar with the group save for some scattered tracks (including "Rivers of Blood" with Ghost, G Rap and Raekwon which they co-produced) and an interview in Bonafide, but what little I've heard sounds good and Ghost is notorious for picking ill sounds to rhyme over. "Sour Soul" is out via LEX Records on February 24, is completely produced by BBNG in collaboration with Frank Dukes, and sports guest features from Danny Brown, DOOM, eLzhi and Tree. Check out the new video for the DOOM assisted single "Ray Gun" up top.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Coalmine Records has been releasing some great music the past couple of years which the label is celebrating with the compilation "Remineded" featuring new and old, remixes and all around ill shit. A lot of heavy names on here holding down microphones and production equipment, including Kool G Rap, Large Professor, Audible Doctor, Diamond D, Heltah Skeltah, Blu, Sean Price, Divided Soul, Billy Danze, Supernatural, and many more. The only thing that I'm a bit suprised about is the fact that there is only 10 tracks on it as I seem to recall early tracklists with 20 songs on it, but I'm probably getting it mixed up. Anyway, a lot of good stuff on this one so be sure to check it out. Available for digital purchase or free streaming, while two singles have been pressed up on 7" if you're looking for physical product. Cop it via iTunes, stream it from Soundcloud or below and grab the 7" singles from FatBeats.

This should be pretty damn amazing! Producer Mr. Green and former The Roots spitter has teased us with some excellent singles during the past years but now their collaborative project, "Unpredictable", is finally soon to be unleashed on the world. The album is set to drop on February 25 via Enemy Soil who has previously released albums by Jedi Mind Tricks, Army of the Pharoahs and Vinnie Paz. Along with the cover artwork the duo also took to Okayplayer to premier the video to their new single "We Gonna Make It" which you see up top. Pre-order the album @ Amazon, JediMindTricks.com or iTunes now.

Another producer that pretty much never dissapoints is The Large Professor who is preparing another album this year, entitled "Re:Living". Not much has been revealed about the project as of yet, except for it to be released sometime this spring. "Own World" featuring Fortune is the second single (following "In The Scrolls") and features scratches by DJ Boogie Blind.

Ever since I first heard Lewis Parker for the first time on Ghostface's "Fishscale" and "More Fish" albums in 2006 I've been constantly blown away by his work. For 2015 the London born Parker hooks up with NY emcee Eastkoast for a full-length project called "MK Ultra: Operation Hypnosis" available for pre-order viaKingUnderground.com. The first single features Shabaam Sahdeeq and El Da Sensei and is fittingly given the title "Superior MC's". Powerful!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

I sometimes get a few upset readers in the comments section everytime I post something by or about Jay-Z, but the fact is that I hold "Reasonable Doubt" and about half of "In My Lifetime, Vol. 1" in the highest regard as some of the most well crafted writing in hip-hop music of all time. Therefore I am always eager to hear other non album tracks, guest features and demos from this early peak of Jigg (who still to this day knows how to knock out a banger if you ask me). I myself put together a 16 track compilation of Hov's mid-'90s non-album joints called "The Pre-Trial"featuring his work with Original Flavor, DJ Clark Kent, Ski, Jaz-O, among other hard tunes a while back (unfortunately the link has been taken down, but I'm doing a re-up on it in the coming days, just need to get back a couple more songs that I've lost).

However, Mass Appeal very recently shared a new mixtape compilation of ten songs predating the release of "Reasonable Doubt", that I, at least for the bulk of it, never have heard before. This is an extreme treat for hip-hop heads and lyric gourmets, as this release contains a gold mine of classic, yet previously unheard, Jay-Z lyrics that calls out for extensive use of the rewind button all delivered over bass booming '90s New York bap. As you know Jay would later dumb down his content considerably, but in the early days his songs were made up of an extensive amount of lyrics with multiple meanings calling out for listeners to decipher. While a few of the songs on this tape, titled "Demo Tape - Before Reasonable Doubt" features songs in his pre-'95 hype style heard on jams like Big L's "Da Graveyard" (a style that never appealed to me tooo much), the majority of joints finds a Jay-Z whose lyrical delivery is somewhere in between the hyper and the calm mafioso persona finally heard on "R.D.". It's hard listing stand outs because this is most definitely something you can listen to from front to back many, many times if you're a fan of early Jigga Man but I was especially hyped for "Get Off My Dick", the Clark Kent produced "Understand Me" (very dope track where Jigga takes a trip down memory lane, recounting his growing up in the streets of Marcy, interspersed with a sampled 2Pac hook), and "Broken English & Drug Sellin'" - all songs that almost sound like they could have been considered for inclusion on the classic debut in 1996. The only song that I feel to likely have been recorded after the fact is the closing song. Called "Behind The Ropes" listening to the DJ shouts it's obvious this is in fact a Sauce Money record featuring Jay. Sauce's first 12" single on Roc wasn't released until 1997 and though this is definitely earlier than "Against the Grain", it was probably recorded between "R.D." and that. It's a sick cut at any rate.

Calling this a demo tape however, does sound a bit silly considering this is definitely nothing that was compiled as a demo nor does it consist of material recorded in a few sessions as a unit. Rather this is a compilation of rare material predating the release of the album, but recorded after songs like the Jaz-O collaborations. Big Jaz is suspiciously absent from all material (perhaps he did produce some of the music though as there's no production credits, though both Ski and Clark Kent's fingerprints undoubtedly are on some of these), though early Jay-Z / Roc-A-Fella affiliate Sauce Money kicks it with Hov on no less than five songs. I always felt these two had a great chemistry and would have loved to see Sauce been the next big artist being pushed by Roc-A-Fella but it is what it is.

After the failed adventure that was Soul Temple Records (RZA and Bob Power's label which signed and released dope artists and albums, but failed to ship them out for months) U-God is signing back to BabyGrande Records where he released his pretty damn sick "Dopium" LP. While currently working on his as of yet untitled fifth solo album, Babygrande is set to give his "Keynote Speaker" a more proper release. With that Uey and the label just dropped the official video for one of the LPs strongest cuts, "Heads Up" featuring GZA/Genius and Scotty Wotty. If you know you're Wu history it's a real special thing to hear the two latter on the same song. You can cop a digital copy from iTunes where you can also see the updated Babygrande cover art. Physical copies drop February 17.

Oh shit - this is some megatron bomb news right here for y'all. Cannibal Ox only album, 2001:s undisputed masterpiece "The Cold Vein", is finally about to get a follow-up after fans has been left satisfied by dope solo projects by Vast Aire and (especially) Vordul Mega, yet fiending for more Ox. Titled "Blade of the Ronin" the album is slated for a March 3 release via IGC Records / iHipHop Distribution. Producer Bill Cosmiq is filling in the role El-P played on the debut, that of main producer, while guest features comes from U-God, MF DOOM, eLzhi, Artifacts, and more with a total of 19 songs. This one should be real interesting so stay tuned...

Mello Music Group signee and Ugly Heroes member Red Pill lets loose a free, digital three track EP called "Learning to Punch" that's especially effective as an introduction to the emcee for those of us not too familiar with his past work. With boom bap-esque production by Oddisee, Apollo Brown, and Duke Westlake this one is certified. Enjoy!

Like I wrote a few posts down I haven't had a chance to update the blog or even use my laptop for more than a week, so a long with some new shit I'm also gonna post some tracks and videos that's just too dope not to get a run under the spotlight. One such joint is the 7th and latest entry in DJ Premier's terrific video freestyle series "Bars in the Booth", showcasing some of the most talented rhyme slingers of today getting busy over exclusive Preemo bangers. This time it's a double feature as both of The Barrell Brothers gets busy and does a damn good job. When the series reach higher numbers a compilation of all the installments so far will be mandatory for the phone.

The final part of MF Grimm & Drasar Monumental's absolutely mindblowing "Good Morning Vietnam" is finally here and the closing chapter (subtitled "The Phoenix Program") might very well be the hardest hitting of the entire series. I personally hold it as the best album of 2014, perhaps tied with the very different but equally brilliant Souls Of Mischief / Adrian Younge LP, as it's not only extremely brilliant in its lyrics and performance or packs head knocking beats that both manages to preserve an old school esthetic while being completely original, but it's the inseparable combination of the two. As I just finally got my copy of both the CD and LP in the mail today you know I wanted to put out another word on this one. Anyone sleeping is truly missing out, and if you didn't know Vendetta is the label for those that want to label them!

Also check out the music video for the lead single "Glaciers Of Icex" right above in case you missed it back when it first hit the net. If you're not getting the title and how it's a clever play on both hip-hop and Vietnam related themes be sure to hit up Google for your answer, because they went deep with the research on these projects. I surely hope we will get to hear more music from these two humble brothers very soon... And again if you haven't purchased copies of these gems for yourself be sure to do so, because once they are gone they probably will be gone for good. Head over to VendettaVinylVietnam.com and support the real!

The strangely underrated super producer Easy Mo Bee, who has produced some of hip-hop's most memorable hits, and worked with everyone from 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., The Genius, Big Punisher, Big Daddy Kane, Miles Davis, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, just to name a few, has just released a new album. Completely instrumental, "And You Don't Stop", is the second LP under Mo Bee's own name (following 2000:s "Now Or Never: Odyssey 2000)") and is another oddysey through vintage boom bap and classic hip-hop styles made up of 19 brand new cuts. To achieve the nitty gritty Mo Bee recorded the entirety of the album exclusively on three machines - the SP1200, an Akai S900 and its sister Akai S950. I haven't heard the album for myself yet but it does indeed sound very interesting and the title track and first single seen and heard above is indeed promising. "And You Don't Stop" is available exclusively in digital format now through digital retailers via SLAMjamz Records. Hopefully a physical release will follow. Thanks to FortyGlock for the heads up on this one.COP "AND YOU DON'T STOP" @ iTUNES

Another new banger from one of the earliest and most talented Wu-Tang Killa Beez comes from P.R. Terrorist a.k.a. Dom Pachino from Killarmy. The single is called "Mental Calisthetics" and is the lead single from The Terrorist's upcoming new album, entirely produced by Bronze Nazareth, with an additional bonus track supplied by the almighty 4th Disciple. Sounds very interesting indeed!MENTAL CALISTHENICS by PR TERRORIST

I haven't been home for over a week, and when I left here I remembered to bring my laptop but I forgot my damn connection cord and my phone is a bitch writing long blog posts with, so I apologize for the lack of updates this past week but now I'm back in business and I got some good exclusive shit along with some great things that's been released since last that you may or may not have missed out on. Also I will be hitting back a lot of emails tonight as well, sorry for the late replays in advance. Wu-Tang Clan was my first true love of hip-hop music and every once in a while I find myself in a period where I revisit my large physical Wu-Tang catalouge almost exclusively for some time. Since the release of the Wu's latest, and probably last, group album - the underrated "A Better Tomorrow" (which with a 6.8/10 to 7/10 rating for me, I consider their weakest group LP yet, though that definitely don't make it a bad album in my humble opinion), I've found myself in one of these binge sessions overdosing a Wu so I got a lot of music from the group and affiliates, as well as an article which I think you will enjoy.

First out is Killah Priest which is preparing to follow up his close-to-masterpiece 2xCD "The Psychic World of Walter Reed" with a full-length collaboration with production team Godz Wrath entitled "Planet of the Gods". For those of y'all not in the know Godz Wrath is a fantastic clique of producers originating from the Netherlands and consisting of Jordan River Banks, MOD The Black Marvel, Ciph Barker and Dirty Needlz. Their current track record of collaborations with Killah Priest is absolutely mindblowing, creating many of his best songs from the last ten years or so. I'd say that no other producers at the moment have a better chemistry with Killah Priest, who happens to be one of my favorite emcees.They first worked together simultaneously on the Black Market Militia album and "The Offering", creating a total of ten songs between the two projects. More recently the team were also behind no less than sixteen songs of "PWOWR" between its members (mainly Ciph Barker and Jordan River Banks), including such brilliant songs as "The Document", "New Reality", "Shadow Landz", "Tonite We Ride" and "Love is Life". Needless to say a full album between these two strong hip-hop entitities is a match made in heaven and the four minutes sampler of the LP that Jordan River Banks recently uploaded to his Soundcloud account seem to support that claim. The album is set to drop within the next couple of months and can be pre-ordered using PayPal from here($20 dollar). We previously heard the lead single from the album with its accompanying video, "Body of Light".

In related news, another brand new Priest joint was just unleashed though it's unrelated to "Planet of the Gods". "True Killah B" is lifted from producer 730's new mixtape "WeGoin'In: The Mixtape Vol. 2" which also features new music form Junclassic, Agallah, Labba, Nutso, Lord Nez, Tribeca, and more. I'm not sure if the actual mixtape is out yet, I at least can't find it, but check out the Priest track below.

Monday, January 12, 2015

A lot of Wu stuff today, and I really can't complain since the release of the criminally underrated "A Better Tomorrow" I've been real heavy on my Wu shit. I don't know too much about LD and Ariano, but I believe that LD is the DJ/producer of the duo and I'm definitely feeling his jazzy heavy hitting beat for "Gotta Get Mine". U-God really came through on "A.B.T." and here's another solid verse that sounds great over this beat, while LMNO, the Kev Brown/Evidence affiliate does a good job as well. This track was originally released in 2008 but I believe it hasn't been made available on a full-length album until last years "The Singles"which you can check out via Spotify below.

This is a REAL gem right here that was originally posted on Facebook a few days ago. This short freestyle session was recorded for the Video Music Box way back in 1991, when GZA was with Cold Chillin', Prince Rakeem was on Tommy Boy and Ason Unique was the beatbox king. The group was called All in Together Now though Rakeem is missing from this video this is definitely a breah of fresh air that needs to be seen by any Wu-Tang fanatic out there!

The Seatlte-based experimental "hip hop" duo Shabazz Palaces is by far one of the most interesting music groups of this decade. Their second Sub Pop album "Lese Majesty" has been going warm over here and is by far one of the best albums of 2014, so it's great to see a new music video for another song from the LP. This time the visuals to emcee Ishmael Buttler and multi-instrumentalist Tendai "Baba" Maraire's joint happen to be the slamming cut "Forerunner Foray". Now zone out to this!

Hell yes! I'm always up for new music by Grand Puba, the man behind one of the illest hip-hop albums ever recorded ("Reel to Reel", duh). This is a lyricist and a true veteran here, and listening to his new single "The More Things That Change" it's evident he hasn't lost a step. Now signed to BabyGrande, this is the title song of his new album, produced by PhD, which drops this spring. So be on the lookout, 'cus I know I will. Buy the single @ iTunes.

The Dirty Sample is a rugged and raw producer who's been working on his fittingly titled "Raw Produce". Featuring the likes of Guilty Simpson, Moka Only, D-Sisive and most importantly Roc Marciano. The Roc featured cut "Three Sixty Five" is by far the illest cut on the free LP (the Guilty Simpson joint is fire too), so be sure to check it out up top and if you want to hear more from The Dirty Sample peep the full "Raw Produce" album below. Spotted @ 2DBZ.

One of the major beefs fans have with RZA's direction on the last couple of Wu-Tang Clan albums are the inclusion of weak or average singers crooning away corny hooks in a very non-Wu fashion. It's not like the all-time classics such as "Cold World" or "All That I Got is You" had real saccharine hooks; they added to the production and overall song with lyrics that had everything to do with the record's concepts. While recent Wu albums have seen choruses/intros and bridges performed by no-names like Nathaniel, Dexter Wiggles, and Thea, the original Wu-Tang singers was an essential part of what made album like "Ironman" and "Liquid Swords" classics, considering they had singers like Blue Raspberry and Tekitha Washington in their camp. These singers were responsibe for taking Wu classics such as "Mr. Sandman", "Impossible", "Heaven & Hell", "Black Boy", "What's Going On", "Pump Ya Fist", "Rainy Dayz", "1-800 Suicide Remix", and many more. I have no clue what there personal relatiohip is, but a Wu-Elementz produced album for this two oversen by The RZA, Divine, Power and Dnnis Coles would have been something else. I know that Tekitha and Robert Diggs was at one point married, which is probably why she mainly took Blue's place as the #1 Wu Crooner (she did however appear on Raekwon's "Cuban Linx II" on the magnificent cut "Have Mercy" in 2009).

Tekitha actually had a solo deal in place at one point in the early 2000s, on a Wu-Tang Related label called Digital Recordings whom also put out singles and albums by Black Knights, Division C.C.F., and Suga Bang's solo album "Fire". The title of the album was "Wisdom Body" and was The album I have here, might not be the complete deal, considering it clocks in at just under forty minutes, with only nine songs, but personally I prefer shorter R&B/Soul albums like back in the days, and this is definitely one of them records that you can zone out to whether you're with your girlfriend or by yourself. This clearly would have made for a nice LP or EP pressing, perhaps with a bonus track or two added. Tekitha had a beautiful voice, and the production and writing is sexy throughout. If there's one complaint is the number of unneccesary weak guest rappers that pop up now and again. The only worthwile verse comes from Ghostface, but we all know that.

During this time of the Digital Records label, Tekitha did in fact release a RZA produced 12" single called "You" in 2002, featuring one solo version and one rap mix featruging Ghostface Killah. A project entitled "Wisdom Body" always used to be listed among the many "coming soon" releases on certain Wu solos around this time, and I strongly believe this was the first promo song to be sent out to DJ:s for the LP which unfortunately was shelvd. Rumors has it that the Tekitha EP been said to be fully produced by RZA but to be honest which forthcoming Wu release isn't? In fact very little has been made public about these recordings with Tekitha so who really knows. There's no release info, there's no production credits, but my guess is arond 2002/2003 for a couple, three reasons. First off, "You" was released in 2002, definitely a promo for "Wisdom Body" that would taken off as a single full throttle had it been succesful. Then in 2003, Tekitha's album was listed as "coming soon..." in the booklet for "World According to RZA". Last but definitely not least; Raekwon realeased one of the worst albums in the Wu-Tang history with "Lex Diamond Story" - It wasn't a complete waste though, as it did feature the masterpiece "Once Upon A Time". originally a Tekitha solo from "Wisdom Body" with two short Rae verses added. Classic!

The album you'll find below features nine solo songs by Tekitha Washington and is sure to please any fan of her haunting voice and real R&B with a lot of soul. The music contained here are honest, sexy true Soul/R&B but not wthout that Wu feeling. This is easily an album you can listen to from front-to-back and then rewind again, if you're in that mood. There's so much good material here, and while I don't have a clue who produced the majoirty of the music here I know that RZA is responsible for "Masta High", "Ghetto Serenade" and "You". I'm not sure if this is the full album as it was intended or if it's just an excerpt but as it adds up to roughly 40 minutes of strong soul music performed by a truly gifted singer and writer its one I strongly recommend. Get your groove on baby!

This goes HARD. Emcee The Lone Ninja hooks up with RZA's younger brother 9th Prince and producer Mir The Bloody for this booming Wu-esque sound. The track is called "Hostile Territory" and goes harder than hard. TURN IT UP!

I first heard Bronx bomber $amhill on the P Brother's "The Gas Album" on the hardcore album closer "Don't Question Me". Now $samhill is back with a full-length album, repping that Bronx hardbody sound, going hard both on the street lyrics and the agressive bass heavy production. If you loved "The Gas Album" and the "Heavy Bronx Experience" EP:s you will fucking love this - hardcore hip-hop at its finest. Not only does $samhill deal with that ignorant street shit we all love and cherished, but he also touches upon deeper themes that goes on everyday in the rough neighborhoods of the poorer areas of America. All set of rugged agressive funk that'll definitely hae your head nodding and your feet tapping. My man CeitedMoFo from the Wu Corp forums put me on to this one, so massive props goes out to him, and everyone involed in this hardcore gem. Hardcore South Bronx beat, with dark, heavy bass melodies, wailing horns, tables turning, agressive lyrics and evven Nina Simone samples SOUTH BRONX STAND UP!

If you're a fan of $amhill this is your lucky day, and if you're not yet familiar with this hardcore South Bronx emcee you will definitely be one by the end of these day. The second free mixtape by the man is called "The Preface" and seems to be some sort of prelurde to an official album hopefuly coming soon. Well, I'm all for any new music by this hardcore gangster emcee so bring it on... So bring it on! This is actually an EP but it bangs hard nontheless - I recommend you listening to both projects back-to-back!

Friday, January 9, 2015

Ghostface Killah is not only my all-time favorite emcee but he's also one of the most prolific artists hip-hop has ever witnessed, and what's really impressive is that his proejcts are always dope. He have a huge catalouge of albums and he hasn't done more than two half-weak albums, tops. Working with RZA's side projects "Chamber Music", "Legendary Weapons", "Man With The Iron Fists" and Soul Temple Records he really started building on a new style that fit the vertan emce to a tee. He of course recorded the absolutely brilliant concept album with Adrian Younge called "Twelve Reasons to Die" in 2012; hooked up with The Revelation (who produced or played on all the aforementioned three projects) for another concept album late last year called "36 Seasons" and even though fans really haven't catch their breath on that one he is already back with young, white jazz trio BadBadNotGood for a full-length collaboration to be released on February 23 via LEX/EOne. With all music produced and performed by BadBadNotGood, this could be viewed as a third volume in a trilogy of Ghostface telling stories over live jazz/blues instrumentation. We've previously heard the slamming singles with Danny Brown and eLzhi, but for "Ray Gun" he brings out the one and only DOOM which I know is gonna get a lot of y'all (myself included) very hype, The album drops on February 23 so STAY TUNED!

With thirteen tracks clocking in at roughly forty minutes, I would consider "Good Morning Vietnam III: The Phoenix Program" as a full-length album, at the same time as its the third installment in the series. And as much as I loved the two predecessesors, "The Phoenix Program" is another one of the best albums of 2010s standing on its own but it's when listening to all three EP:s/mini albums as a unit that's the truly incredible ride. With that being said the new Grimm/Drasar project stands both as an excellent release in its own right, as well as being the crowning release of the aforementioned trilogy. Taken as a whole I'd udoubtedly go as far as to say that the well-crafted trilogy stands as the finest project of this deacade so far. As familiar I am with MF Grimm, before I came across the first installment of these projects I had never heard the name Drasar Monumental, but as soon as I let the the needle hit the wax I was immediatly taken back by the rawness and boom baptic sound collages and how well they transpired to Grimm's writing and performances throughout. There's no question that the chemistry is nothing short of AMAZING. And as it was a concept album breaking down the horrors of the Vietnam war and mirroring it with the struggles of America today, The second volume "The Golden Triangle" was even stronger, as the chemistry had evolved into something even more natural ad Grimm's conceptual writing and deliveries had became even stronger while Drasar's production had grown even stronger and the way they know where complimenting each other styles started to grow closer to the best known hip-hop duo's of all time (Gang Starr, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, DIamond Distict, and so on)..

So how does the third and final part of "GMV", subtitled "The Phoenix Program", stack up against the two previous releases that both made it to the top of my best albums in their respective release dates. It's always a gamble for an artist following up a masterpiece with a sequel, as it's very hard to be able to top the original 15 years larer - as we knw there's plenty of subpar sequels in the world of hip hop. Luckily for all of us, a sub-par follow-up from this duo is a far cry from the truth as it's another purely excellent outing from GRIMM & Drasar and it's evident that they've worked real hard to make sure that fans will get nothing but the pure, unadulteraded hip-hop,with a lot of classic breakbeats and strong street lyrics, that balances the grooves between classic '90a hardcore bap while still keeping it completely original. The songs on here (all versions of the album only include two long tracks - making the statement that this is something you should listen to from front-to-back. But more fresh and original is the way it is produced and performed - the Vietnam war, like any war was messy, paranoid and filled with emotions, and music, And the music Drasar and MF Grimm cooks up for this 40 minutes outing bring back memories of the last days of the '60's and '70s. .Musically it's concocted from a wide range of samples often listed from '60s and '70s records, mixed in with agressively classic hip-hop samples freom trhe likes of KRS-One. The production style is something out of the ordinary, you won't get any of the repetitive four bars loops over a fu ll song anywhere on this release. Instead Drasar creates a bombastic, EXPLPOSIVE sound collage of intensely mindblowing hardcore piecees, whixh really bring the best out of Cap. The huger amount of beat switches and musical switches just shouldn't work but it sure as hell does all the way. There's really only one song that I'm not crazy about, the laid back cut "SOMETHING SOMETHING", which is not a bad song by any means but compared to the other tracks on the project it's a bit of a let down. But that's a minor complaint for an album this is exttremely dope.

When I interviewed MF Grimm and Drasar I told Grimm how I've been following his career for years but feel that the two "Good Morning Vietnam" projects for me represented his best work yet. He completely agreed with me, and listening to either volume of this series (or all of them as a unit) it's clear that he for one of the first time in his life has found a musical compadre that listens to him and truly brings the best out of him. MF Grimm is by far one of the illest, most thought provoking emcees around and his voice is just on another level, and while I pretty much like all of his previous albums (as he's always been pushing the envelope with every single release of him), no previous LP has grabbed me in the way this trilogy has done. From start to finish he follow the concept of "showing different aspects of the Vietnam war" to a Tee, and much of his writing is as cinematic as it gets. Add to that the many scary interludes from real life war criminals like Henry Kissinger - another song that deserves a lot of props for its writing, not being scared of calling out one of the worst human beings in recent history. It's hard to pick favorites from this album considering it's such a cohessive whole and since I'm still waiting for my physical copies I have mostly played it through my phone in tthe two track version, meaning I don't really know the titles of the song. But that doesn't really matter, as this is definitely an album you put on, press play, close your eyes to and move into the hip-hop version of Vietnam this is a trilogy project that at least I will never forgot. Like I said it's hard for me to pinpoint favorite tracks as this is really something I want to hear from front-to-back, but the first single "Glaciers Of Icex" is simply out of this world, and so is the opening "Birth Of Violence", or the agressive KRS-One sampling "Economics"). With that said I really hope that we will get a whole lot more material from Drasar & MF Grimm as a duo.Be sure to head over to VendettaVinylVietnam to order your copy of "GMV III: The Phoenix Program" on CD or LP, or in the exclusive bundle package containing all three installments in case you missed it. Thanks a lot to Vendetta Vintl and be sure to grab all three versions oif the album at the very last. TURN IT UP!!!

YESSIR! Big Daddy Kane is back with another heat rock, produced by UK beatsmith Dr. G who has been coming through with a lot of illness lately. On "The Times" BDK gets deep, reflecting on the ways of the world today spurred on by Dr. G's haunting strings and pounding drums. I really need to make a compilation of recent BDK material very soon. On a related note I recently checked out the album with his group Las Supper, an LP I had completely overlooked after a quick listen to the misleading first single, and I would really like to recommend that one to any Kane fan. You can pick up "Back to the Future" @ iTunes.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Back when Rawkus was still the place to be at, Cage and the duo known as The High & Mighty formed Smut Peddlers and recorded "Porn Again" for the label. This album always held a special spot in my crates, to me it's by far the illest stuff Cage ever recorded and DJ Mighty Mi constructed some absolutely raw and nasty boom bap beats here that makes me realize just how underrated he is as both a DJ and a producer. With guest features from Kool G Rap, Kool Keith and most importantly BEETLEJUICE. the album is an all around dope experience that might just be one of the last truly great Rawkus releases. The eight minutes long promo video sees Cage, Mr. Eon and Mighty Mi break down the meaning behind the group, its origins, its goals, mixed with live footage and in-studio footage (including parts of the recording of "Talk Like Sex Pt. II" with G Rap), and brings back a lot of memories to anyone familiar with the LP. THAT SMUT!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

MF Grimm & Drasar Monumental's "GMV III - The Phoenix Program" is available on vinyl and CD now and definitely puts the crown on the "Good Morning Vietnam" series as one of the rawest projects of the decade. My full review of the album should hopefully be up later tonight with some deeper thoughts on it but until then I strongly recommend you all to support the real by heading over to VendettaVinylVietnam and order your copy ASAP. TURN IT UP!!

This super ill remix of Sean Price's recent "Land of the Crooks" single has been out for a while but in case anyone missed out on it, you definitely need to hit play up top. Featuring M.O.P.'s Billy Danze and Maffew Ragazino, this updated version was created by Divided Souls Entertainment and DJ Pain 1 for an upcoming compilation album for Coalmine Records. The album is called "Reminded" and will be available on January 20, you can pre-order it @ iTunes now. Also check out the Cookin' Soul remix of "Born Naturally" (Large Pro, Big Noyd and G Rap) below.

The homie Rome Cee brings out the visual to his single "Signs" from his recent dope project "Glimps". Shot in the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, Rome is making an important statement on the #BlackLivesMatter situation with this one right now. Be sure to check out the full project above in case you've missed out.

Friday, January 2, 2015

I can't understand those people who basically only listen to strictly hip-hop music. Music as a whole is my number one love, and though hip-hop is by far my favorite genre but how someone can be musically satisfied by only listening to rap music is for me absolutely mind boggling when there's so much great music from a wide range of genres out there - jazz in all it's incarnations, blues, rock, heavy metal and industrial, and even some classical music. As a true music lover I am mad happy that we got artists like Flying Lotus and the artists on his Brainfeeder label pushing the boundaries of modern electronic music by taking a page from the past and moving forward into new terrority. As for FlyLo I've had my eyes on him since his "Cosmogramma" album in 2010, but it was when the grandson of legendary jazz pianist Alice Coltrane dropped his tripped out "Until the Quiet Comes" in 2012 that I truly fell in love with his music. After letting the 2xLP set live on my turntables and on my Android phone for a long time, I was soon after starting to fiending for new music by the DMT fanatic. For me the release of the follow-up to "Quiet", beautifully titled "You're Dead". FlyLo has more than repated that same feat of greatness again, without repeating himself. "Until the Quiet Comes"is pretty close to a perfect album, and i strongly feel that this new LP is it's sister album as it shares many similarities yet it's evolved and features a lot of new tracks.

Now in 2014, Steven Ellison, also known a Flying Lotus, returns with his sixth album, tenth if we're counting Extended Plays, "You're Dead" on October 7, via Warp Records. While "Until The Quiet Comes" was a laid back, psychadelic journey into the mind with high free jazz, jazz fusion and electronic hip-hop overtones, "You're Dead" pretty much continues where its predecessesor left off. The 20 track collection plays out more like a suite than the type of albums we are used to hear these days, be they instrumental or not. Many of the songs are only one or two minutes and throughout the whole 40 minutes LP almost every feeling is represented in the most beautiful way - whether it be straight up disonant hardcore shit (the powerful "Tesla"), laid-back music of extreme longing like one of my personal favorites "Coronus, The Terminator", heavy free jazz bangers ("Cold Dead"), the percussion and Rhodes brilliance of "Moment of Hesitation". Pointing out each song is definitely pointless as the entire album revels in front-to-back brilliance and personally I would say that this is FlyLo's finest full-length album to date. One of the main reasons for this, is that FlyLo is here taking his production to the next level - while previous albums has mainly been mainly sample based, "You're Dead" is a mixture of Lotus' sample wizardry and a host of live musicians that he has invited to the sessions. The 19/20 tracks suite (depending on which version you have) clearly has a sonic thread running throuhgout them, wihtout ever coming off as monotone. The jazz elements are way more pronounced here than on the previous FlyLo albums - so much that in fact this is the first album of his that I would feel comfortable putting in my jazz album collection. He has here gathered the usual suspects like bassist/vocalist Thundercat, sweet voiced Nikki Randa, string conductor Miguel Atwood-Fergusson, but there's also a host of legendary jazz artists adding color to the album. All these artists appeared on the previous LP as well, though not to the same extent, but on "You're Dead", Ellison takes the jazz and hip-hop approach a step further. One of my all time-favorite artists of all time, pianist/keyboardist Herbie Hancock adds his magical Rhodes touch on the hauntingly beautiful "Tesla" and "Madness Of Hesitation". while jazz guiartist/bassist and keyboardist Jeff Lynn add some color to "Stirring" to great effect. These legendary artists appears simultaneously in FlyLo's world with rising stars like superb sax player Kamsai Washington who really add a lot of jazz texture to standouts such as "Moment Of Hesitation", "Cold World", "Turkey Dog Come", and "Moment of Hesitation".

Production is absolutely flawless throughout, the way Flying Lotus uses samples and live instruments of abstract melodies, disonant studio trickery, distorted vocals, melodic basslines, Rhodes, agressive saxophones and of course the slamming drums. As I stated before this abum really defies labeling, but might be closest to free jazz, jazz fusion or experimental electronic music. But hip-hop heads will definitely not be dissapointed either, as FlyLo creates some abstract but very dope hip-hop joints. The first single "Never Catch Me" featuring an outstanding verse from Kendrick Lamar, while Lotus' Quasimoto like alter-ego Captain Murphy gets busy on a couple of tracks and even Snoop Dogg makes an apperance on the absolutely brilliant "Dead Man's Tetris". Whatever you do don't sleep on this album!

This is just amazing right here, pure fucking Wu from the days the Wu and The RZA was incapable of making ish that didn't become classics. Jammin from TheCorp are the man for this find and original ripper and uploader RANDOMRAPRADIO is even more crazy for it, huge thanks goes out to you. As you see from the title this roughly 40 minutes DJ set was performed on the air by The RZA on a Funkmaster Flex show on HOT97 back in 1995, June 3rd to be exact. And they also had ODB performing over some of the stuff, including a banging live version of "Brooklyn Zoo". No real heads are allowed to sleep on this one!

For my two first posts of 2015, as well as taking this time to wish all of my readers a terrific new year ahead of us all, you know I had to come with the big guns. First out is something that many of y'all have probably seen before although i know me myself has been looking for the full version of this for a long ass time, since the versions I constantly found always cut off after 68 minutes or something like that and had French subtitles. I'm talking about the excellent Brook Simms 2005 documentary on Tragedy Khadafi, who you should know by now is one of my all time favorites, "Tragedy: The Story of Queensbridge". YouTube user Hallvard Fauske Ekdahl has uploaded the, in my opinion, ever made on Queensbridge hip-hop as Tragedy pretty much inspired the major players of QB, from the Juice Crew, to Nas, to CNN, to Mobb Deep, to Cormega, Killa Sha, and so on. The narrative takes us through Trag's young days working as The Super Kids with DJ Hot Day, as the solo artist Intelligent Hoodlum, with the major underrated classics "Intelligent Hoodlum" and "Saga of a Hoodlum" under his belt, to his work with Capone-N-Noreaga creating "The War Report" and his long running solo career as Tragedy Khadafi, and much more. If you've never seen this before you are in for a REAL TREAT, a major shout out to Ekdahl again for the upload, and also be sure to support Trag's new street album"Pre-Magnum Opus" which is out now on iTunes. The video won't embed so head over to the playlist (which also includes two bonus footage), and has an all over running tme of about 85 minutes.

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